NEW ALEXANDRIA, Pa. — The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Summit Sportsman National Championship entered its ninth stop in the 15-stop series on July 7-9 at Keystone Raceway Park.

There were no weekend sweeps although Garry Fleenor reached three final rounds (twice in Hot Rod and once in Quick Rod). Fleenor and Patrick Forster faced off in the Quick Rod final on Saturday and the Hot Rod final on Sunday. In addition, Timothy Fletcher in Stock and Tyler Rudolph in Junior Dragster reached the final round on both Saturday and Sunday in their respective classes.

Competitors entered the weekend events in the following classes: Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, Quick Rod, Super Stock, Stock, Hot Rod and Junior Dragster. Full results are available here: http://dragstory.com/forum/index.php?board=309.0; a weekend recap of the Keystone action is below:

Top Dragster: Canadian racer Ed Smith from LaSalle, Ontario won on a holeshot to take his second win of the season in the Top Dragster ranks. Smith left with a .004 reaction time and powered down the track at 4.596 seconds at 148.76 mph against a 4.58 dial-in. Runner-up Chris Gulitti from Spring, Texas was .042 at the starting tree. He ran a 4.607 at 153.01 mph against a 4.63 dial-in.

Top Sportsman: In a closely contested Top Sportsman final, Mark Payne from Waynesboro, Va., went 4.693 seconds at 150.35 mph on a 4.70 dial-in to edge Rob Harvishak from Warren, Ohio. Harvishak had a slight edge at the start .033 to .034, but came up just short after running a 4.570 at 154.69 against his 4.58 dial-in.

Quick Rod: Garry Fleenor from Port Clinton, Ohio was slightly quicker at the start than Patrick Forster from Pittsburgh, Pa., and parlayed it into a Quick Rod victory. Fleenor was .027 at the tree to .030 for Forster. Fleenor final numbers showed a 5.684-second elapsed time at 142.09 mph. Forster ended at 5.677 seconds and 135.62 mph.

Super Rod: Dale Koncen from Chaptico, Md., took the holeshot victory in the Super Rod final against John Sikish from Belmont, Ohio. Koncen had the .015 to .066 advantage, which made the difference as he ran 6.423 seconds at 126.55 mph. Sikish ended with a 6.394-second elapsed time at 128.42 mph.

Hot Rod: West Virginia driver Greg Fowler denied Fleenor’s attempt to double up on Saturday in the Hot Rod final. Fowler had a 7.02-second elapsed time at 115.86 mph, along with a .022 reaction time. Fleenor red-lighted before going down the track in 7.033 seconds at 111.41 mph.

Super Stock: New Yorkers faced off in the Super Stock final with Charlie Walc from Wellsville winning on a holeshot over John Cira from Greece. Walc made a 6.573-second pass at 96.75 mph along with a .046 reaction time. Cira was .131 at the start and then finished with a 6.857-second effort at 93.42 mph.

Stock: Timothy Fletcher defeated Dave Erny in another all-New York final when Erny red-lighted. Fletcher from Churchville, N.Y., had a .023 reaction time and ended with a 7.417-second run at 89.87 mph against a 7.44 dial-in. Erny from Alden, N.Y., matched his dial-in with a 6.578 run at 100.94 mph, but it was all for naught after triggering the lights too early.

Junior Dragster: The Junior Dragster final was also determined by a holeshot with Josh Wilson from Lincoln University, Pa., taking the victory over Tyler Rudolph from Hemlock, N.Y. Wilson got off the line at .039 to .128 for Rudolph and then raced 8.153 seconds at 78.22 mph against an 8.12 dial-in. Rudolph finished with a 7.86-second pass at 79.24 mph against a 7.90 dial-in.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Top Dragster: The drive from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to the Keystone State was worth it for Chris Ferguson, who matched his dial-in time in his Top Dragster victory. Ferguson posted a 4.517-second run at 152.13 mph with a .011 reaction time. Runner-up JP Schuster from Damascus, Ohio red-lighted at the start and then ran 4.523 seconds at 152.96 mph against a 4.51 dial-in.

Top Sportsman: The Top Sportsman title came down to a pair of drivers from the Buckeye State. Scott Wasko from Columbia Station, Ohio went 4.705 seconds at 148.08 mph against a 4.67 dial-in to defeat Jeff Melnick from Hubbard, Ohio in the final round. Melnick had the better start .016 to .050, but came up a little short overall after going 4.714 seconds at 149.65 mph against a 4.58 dial-in.

Quick Rod: Christa Schneider from Westland, Mich., was the Quick Rod winner, combining a .030 reaction time, with a 5.695-second pass at 139.02 mph. Canadian driver Rick Stroud from Douglas, Ontario, was .003 too quick at the start and finished with a 5.723-second elapsed time at 138.67 mph.

Super Rod: Lance Pinto from Walworth, N.Y., won on a holeshot against Craig Porter from Silver Spring, Ohio in the Super Rod final. Pinto had a .042 reaction time and then went 6.424 seconds at 113.69 mph. Porter had a .124 start and then finished with a 6.435-second pass at 124.21 mph.

Hot Rod: Patrick Forster from Pittsburgh, Pa., and Garry Fleenor from Port Clinton, Ohio met in a rematch of their Saturday Quick Rod final, this time in the championship round of Hot Rod. Forster made a 7.005-second pass at 117.04 mph with a .032 reaction time. Fleenor had the better start at .015, but his 7.040-second run at 113.15 mph.

Super Stock: Thomas Fletcher from Gates, N.Y., won on a holeshot against Joe Gallucci from Independence, Ohio for the Super Stock title. Fletcher had a .052 reaction time and then paired it with a 6.574 elapsed time at 95.62 mph against a 6.51 dial-in. Gallucci ran 6.347 seconds at 105.63 mph against a 6.33 dial-in with a .146 start.

Stock: John Nechiporchik from Grosse Ile, Mich., denied Timothy Fletcher from Churchville, N.Y., the Stock division weekend sweep. Nechiporchik made a 6.637-second pass at 100.99 mph against a 6.62 dial-in. He also had a the .046 to .048 advantage at the start. Fletcher ended with a 7.427-second elapsed time at 89.64 mph against a 7.44 dial-in.

Junior Dragster: A near-perfect reaction time gave Tyler Rudolph the win over Paige Montgomery in the Junior Dragster final. Rudolph, from Hemlock, N.Y. had the .001 start and finished in 7.948 seconds at 78.26 mph as both drivers faced a 7.91 dial-in. Montgomery, an Alden, N.Y. racer, had a 7.952-elapsed time at 81.18 mph, along with a .024 reaction time.